--- Quote from: mmswm on January 14, 2013, 05:35:06 PM --- Unfortunately, the person is almost always a bit embarrassed about the mistake, even though I don't think they should be.

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I think one of the reasons they might be embarrassed is because it appears they made an apparently insulting guess as to how old your mother looks. A woman aged at 64 would be highly (although clearly not impossibly) unlikely to be the natural parent of a 10 year old. So their reaction might be that, oops, I was insinuating this lady looked much older than she was.

I don't think it's an "interesting assumption", just a very natural one.

TurtleDove:
This is off topic a bit, but I agree this would be confusing for people since it is atypical (I actually thought largely impossible!) for a 54 year old woman to birth a child! But I think you are handling it well. No one seems to be intending or taking offense.

Betelnut:

--- Quote from: TurtleDove on January 15, 2013, 02:02:20 PM ---This is off topic a bit, but I agree this would be confusing for people since it is atypical (I actually thought largely impossible!) for a 54 year old woman to birth a child! But I think you are handling it well. No one seems to be intending or taking offense.

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Could be adopted too.

Rohanna:

--- Quote from: Betelnut on January 15, 2013, 02:36:32 PM ------ Quote from: TurtleDove on January 15, 2013, 02:02:20 PM ---This is off topic a bit, but I agree this would be confusing for people since it is atypical (I actually thought largely impossible!) for a 54 year old woman to birth a child! But I think you are handling it well. No one seems to be intending or taking offense.

--- End quote ---

Could be adopted too.

--- End quote ---Or step kids :) I can see how it would be a very easy mistake to make, but I'd just smile and breeze past that for them "Oh, I'm not mum to these ones". My sister frequently get mistaken for Mum not auntie of my son, as he is dark like her (he favours my husband)- and my aunt and I were always taken for sisters (we're only 10 years apart and look a lot alike).

Hillia:
My DH and I have a similar problem, only it's people assuming I'm his mother. We are 20 years apart (30/50) and while I don't think I'm terribly 'old' looking (I keep my gray covered religiously, for example, and a morbid fear of sunburn has largely protected my skin) he is fairly young looking, despite a full and epic beard. Since it's not an issue for consenting to treatment at the doctor's or whatever, we don't correct people, just giggle to ourselves later.